Breast cancer awareness month.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an yearly campaign to raise awareness.

Women of all ages are encouraged to perform breast self-exams at least once a month.

“Forty percent of diagnosed breast cancers are detected by women who feel a lump, so establishing a regular breast self-exam is very important.” According to John Hopkins Hospital

While mammograms can help you to detect cancer before you can feel a lump, breast self-exams help you to be familiar with how your breasts look and feel so you can alert your healthcare professional if there are any changes.

Click the link below to view how to give yourself a breast exam.

Breast Self-Exam

If you are a man you also should check yourself regularly.

Although it is rare, men can get breast cancer. Learn about symptoms of breast cancer in men and things that may increase your risk.

Breast cancer is most often found in women, but men can get breast cancer too. About 1 out of every 100 breast cancers diagnosed in the United States is found in a man.

The most common kinds of breast cancer in men are the same kinds in women—

• Invasive ductal carcinoma. The cancer cells begin in the ducts and then grow outside the ducts into other parts of the breast tissue. Invasive cancer cells can also spread, or metastasize, to other parts of the body.

• Invasive lobular carcinoma. Cancer cells begin in the lobules and then spread from the lobules to the breast tissues that are close by. These invasive cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body.

• Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a breast disease that may lead to invasive breast cancer. The cancer cells are only in the lining of the ducts, and have not spread to other tissues in the breast.